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Meeting Between Burhan, Hemedi Expected to Lead to Sudan Ceasefire

Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
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Meeting Between Burhan, Hemedi Expected to Lead to Sudan Ceasefire

Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)

Sudanese army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Daglo, commander of Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are expected to meet in the coming days in a regional capital, according to sources.

Addressing officers at a military base in the Red Sea, Burhan announced Thursday that he had agreed to engage in negotiations to resolve Sudan’s monthslong conflict.

He expressed readiness to negotiate with the “militia” - a reference to the RSF. He added that he rejects any peace deal that humiliates the armed forces and Sudanese people.

Moreover, Burhan stressed that his forces would remain united and strong.

He further pledged to hold accountable the “cancer of the RSF” and every accomplice that led to the RSF’s capture of Wad Madani.

Several reports, including a one by Asharq TV, said Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq handed a written letter to the Prime Minister of Djibouti and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that Burhan is willing to meet Hemedti under certain conditions.

IGAD had suggested a meeting between the two generals, but Burhan refused.

On December 9, IGAD held a summit during which it was announced that the two men would meet to sign a ceasefire agreement and return to dialogue.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that tireless efforts have led to the agreement over the meeting.

On the ground, clashes between the army and RSF erupted on Saturday in the southern villages of the Gezira state, central Sudan.

The Arab World Press quoted eyewitnesses as saying that army warplanes raided the RSF to prevent their progress in Sennar.

They added that the displacement continues from Wad Madani and the villages of Gezira state to the states of Sennar in the southeast and Gedaref, Kassala, and Port Sudan, in the east of the country.

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Syria Vows to Rid Itself of Assad’s Chemical Weapons Legacy

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)
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Syria Vows to Rid Itself of Assad’s Chemical Weapons Legacy

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani speaks during a national dialogue, a key milestone in the transition to a new political system after decades of Assad rule, in Damascus, Syria February 25, 2025. (Reuters)

Syria's foreign minister vowed on Wednesday to swiftly rid the country of chemical weapons remaining after the downfall of the Bashar al-Assad's government, and appealed to the international community for help.

Asaad Hassan al-Shibani spoke during closed-door meetings at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, where he became the first Syrian foreign minister to address the disarmament agency.

Following a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of people in 2013, Assad-led Syria joined the agency under a US-Russian deal and 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons and precursors were destroyed.

But three inquiries - by a joint UN-OPCW mechanism, the OPCW's Investigation and Identification team, and a UN war crimes probe - concluded that Syrian government forces under Assad used the nerve agent sarin and chlorine barrel bombs in attacks during the civil war that killed or injured thousands.

As part of membership, Damascus was supposed to undergo inspections but for more than a decade the OPCW was prevented from uncovering the true scale of the chemical weapons program.

"Syria is ready ... to solve this decades-old problem imposed on us by a previous regime," Shibani told delegates.

"The legal obligations resulting from breaches are ones we inherited, not created. Nevertheless, our commitment is to dismantle whatever may be left from it, to put an end to this painful legacy and ensure Syria becomes a nation aligned with international norms."

Earlier on Wednesday, OPCW chief Fernando Arias called Syria's political shift "a new and historic opportunity to obtain clarifications on the full extent and scope of the Syrian chemical weapons program".

Shibani said planning had begun, but that the help of the international community would be critical. Syria would require technical assistance, logistical assistance, capacity building, resources and expertise on the ground, he said.

"Although the Assad regime stalled for many years, we understand the need to act quickly, but we also understand that this needs to be done thoroughly. For that, we cannot succeed alone," he said.

Syria's declared stockpile has never accurately reflected the situation on the ground, OPCW inspectors have concluded. They now want to visit roughly 100 sites that may have been tied to Assad's decades-old chemical weapons program.